Origins
by someoneintheshadow456
Summary: A series of short stories about how the pokemon world as we know it came to be... and how the beloved world of our childhood isn't as bright and cheery as it seems.
1. Discovery

It was an old power plant. Red was told he would find something here... something... unusual. It was said that a legendary pokemon lived here, he would need to see it to complete his pokedex.

Red took a good look at the building. It did not appear to be of this world. The technology used was completely foreign to him, but the building was almost in ruin. There was faded writing on the wall, and there were vines growing out of the windows. Clearly, the building had not been used in a long, long, time.

He entered, and was met with a nasty sight. Debris abound, shattered glass on the floor, and an ominous aura. The air around him made him feel nauseated, so much so that he ended up vomiting on the floor. He had no idea what it was making him feel this sick, but it was far from good.

He decided to continue on. As he looked around, he had found that there were dozens of electrodes present. Understandable, given the surroundings. There were a variety of devices present. Red thought they were power generators, but they seemed completely different. They were bulkier... and there was strange equipment surrounding it. He picked up the translucent suit and read the faded label on the back.

"Nu-cle-ar safe..."

What was this 'nuclear?' Red had no idea, he had never heard the word before. He looked at the shelves, with charred, faded tablet-like devices. There were keyboards strewn across the floor like discarded candy wrappers. There was a monitor in the clearing with the word Windows written in black.

Red continued to explore, hoping he would find the legendary pokemon. He did not find it yet, but he did find a mysterious archive. There were photos in the beaten up drawers. Pictures of mothers, fathers, children and... some strange creature. It resembled a meowth, but walked on all fours, was orange in colour and had white stripes. Then he stumbled upon a monitor that was still working, even after all these years, and began to read.

_January 18, 2468,_

What was 'January?' As far as he knew, there were four seasons per year, each lasted about 21 weeks. Years were just numbered as year 1, year 2, and so on... when did they go on to 2400?

_The nuclear reactors have gone out of control... Japan is seeing one of the worst disasters since the Sendai Earthquake of 2011. Many have predicted devastation of even bigger magnitude than the Atomic Bomb of World War II... it's hard to believe that we've gone back to the primitive mindset of 400 years ago, but that's what's happening. _

Japan...? As far as Red was concerned, there was no such place. Come to think of it... Red had no idea how long his world had been around or how it came about.

_Tokyo's been evacuated, but some still choose to stay, why? Do they want to die like this? Even America is having the same problem, but they're bigger... so it's worse. India has built nuclear shelters for the people to hide in... it's unbelievable. It's like we're seeing a repeat of the mid 1900's... _

Red had no idea, but kept reading on... it was like a strange realization was coming to him...

_Many don't even believe us... they think that we're far better than we were in the old days, so nuclear power doesn't hurt us anymore. So they choose to ignore then natural disasters and failed experiments? They once said the world would end in 2012... oh how I wish it did. Well, this is my last journal. I'd rather give up my profession than die in a nuclear explosion. _

Red's face went pale, his hands were shaking. He didn't understand the reason for his fear, but he was so horrified that he started running for his life. After gaining his composure, he came across an old book, which appeared to be more recent than anything else he had seen, but it was still very old. The handwriting was incredibly clumsy, as though the author had been writing for the first time.

_It has been fifty years since the nuclear cataclysm known as The Great Fault. We've practically regressed to the dark ages. I've seen people who I've worked with running about foraging for food, children taking part in agriculture and people even using pencil and paper to note down information... as I'm doing now. _

_The old Tokai Nuclear Plant hasn't changed in the slightest, well, apart from being completely destroyed. I found something peculiar there though, a dinosaur with a plant in its back. It seemed harmless enough, so I chose to adopt it as well as study it. Its genes have been modified in the attack, it was apparently a failed attempt to resurrect a dinosaur. It's strong... it tried to poison an innocent bystander and even strangle it with vines. _

The description of the beast seemed all too familiar to Red... this scientist had adopted a bulbasaur. So this journal was implying that... pokemon... the creatures Red had known existed in the world... were hideous mutations of a former species?

_I don't know if there are other mutations out there... but it's highly probable. I wonder... what could this discovery do for mankind?_

Red's head felt like it was going to explode. He was able to process three things from this information. The world as he knew it was the aftermath of a horrific disaster of a former civilization, Pokemon were altered species of the old world, and most of the technology of said former world was completely destroyed.

This was almost too much for Red to process. He felt like he had been living a complete lie, even though he had never been lied to. Though this discovery gave him a strange new hope... maybe he could uncover more details of Japan, America, and India... maybe these nations still existed, who knows?

It was at that moment when it appeared. The legendary thunder-bird. Its radiant wings gave off sparks and its beady eyes bore directly into Red's. Red flinched in terror and wondered... was this pokemon once part of the species of the old world?

Zapdos was angry. It was furious at this human who had entered its territory. It knew why the human came. There was only one reason why humans came here... to deprive it of its freedom. However, it was also scared... these humans were very powerful, very malicious, and very cunning. It had more experience with these humans than most people thought.

It remembered... long, long ago. At that time, the world was extremely different. The current species that populated the world did not exist. It remembered what it was before. Humans liked to call it a woodpecker, but those cruel humans enhanced its size and strength by giving it pills, strange food, and placing it in a strange machine that made its bones ache. Then there was a horrific disaster, and then it was overtaken by thunder and lightening. Thus, it became the beast it was today. It didn't know why it was still living after so many years. It wanted death to come so badly... but not at the hands of these pitiful humans.

The beast let out a cry of fear and desperate fury. As though to chastise the boy for trying to enslave him, but also to beg him to leave. It lunged at the boy, poised to attack and save itself.


	2. What Man was not Meant to Know

"So let me get this straight..." Lance murmured pensively as he took a good look at the nation's Champion, "Your pokedex has data on... all of them? All one hundred and fifty one of them?"

"Yes, Lance. Professor Oak already has my pokedex so that he can gather the results. He wants to use it for further research."

Lance stood still for a moment. It was hard to believe that a boy of thirteen was able to do what many adults could not for who knows how many years. However Lance was sure that Red couldn't have captured Mewtwo or even the legendary birds. Even he had trouble trying to do so, no matter how many times he tried, they would all end in failure. Lance sighed sadly as he reminisced, then took a sip of his tea.

"It's nice to see that Oak has placed so much faith in someone so young, you must be quite the Trainer, Red."

Red flinched at Lance's condescending tone. If Lance wasn't such a dear friend to him, he probably would have thrown him out for such impertinence.

"Um, Lance? I'm the Kanto region Champion. Of course I'm quite the trainer. I don't like to brag, but I can't deny the facts."

Lance wondered how this conversation had come to be, as he had temporarily forgotten. He remembered that Red came to him to discuss a matter of great importance. The boy looked quite shaken, in fact, it was safe to say that he was traumatized by something. However, Red appeared to be buying time and didn't want to address the matter immediately. That was when he and Lance started having small talk. What else could he call it? They were in his house, sitting on a couch, having tea and talking about current affairs and accomplishments. However now Lance decided that the time for small talk would come to an end.

"Red... what happened? You said you had something really important to tell me. What was it? Judging from the way you were acting, whatever you heard must have shaken you up pretty badly."

Red shuddered, his head sank into his knees and he placed his hands on his forehead. He was shivering, and Lance couldn't tell if he was cold or in fear. It was most probably both.

"Come on Red, suck it up. I'm pretty sure that the both of us can handle it."

"Is Kanto the only region in the world, Lance?"

Lance laughed, as though he found the boy's question rather trivial.

"My dear boy, why do you ask?"

"Just wondering..."

"Nope. The Johto region is right next door, didn't you learn any geography? I'm surprised, you'd think these kids would have learned something useful from their schooling..."

"Other than Johto."

"Not sure... apparently there's a new area down south of Johto, a bit fuzzy on the details though. It's apparently infamous for its bizarre weather."

"Is there or was there ever a country called Japan, Lance?"

Lance flinched and his tea cup fell to the floor, splattering the drink all over his living room rug. He stared at Red in horror. How was this possible? Nobody should know that name anymore. Nobody should have even heard of it. If he had known about this... it would be most likely that he knew...

"...Where did you hear that name?"

"The old power plant... I had found a lot of interesting stuff there. Apparently there is some crucial information regarding the history of our world in that place. I'd tell you, but I think you should check it out."

Lance knew at that moment he was in trouble. If the Champion had known about the Great Fault... then surely he would tell the others. Surely the others would know about the old world... and then they would try to restore it. He could see it now... people would start trying to bring old world technologies to life. Suddenly cars, trains, planes, and the internet would make a resurgence. Then people would realize that they lived perfectly normal lives without pokemon... then they would start keeping their kids in school, and that would mean the end of pokemon journeys. They would wonder how they came to such a barbaric state and call pokemon battles dogfights, then they would put a stop to that and worse comes to worse... they may even try to bring the old species back. A return to the old world would mean a return to the old system of government. The Elite Four would be decommissioned as quickly as possible and the world would be ruled by presidents and prime ministers once again.

And if the world was ruled by presidents and prime ministers... all the power and fame he had gotten... all the respect and prestige... it would mean nothing. He would be an outcast, a freak of nature. He and his fellow Elite Four members would have to live a life in poverty, and without pokemon at their side they were defenseless.

Red had to be silenced. Lance did not want to murder a child however, as he was not inclined to cruelty. However, he had to do something to make sure this information did not get out.

"...Lance? What's wrong? You look pale."

Lance reached into his pocket, he knew now was the right time to use it. He had kept it for a long time should the need arise. Lorelei ridiculed him for his paranoia, but now he would have the last laugh.

"I'll look into it, don't worry..." he murmured as he circled the boy slowly, trying hard not to look suspicious, "It must have been pretty traumatic for you, boy. That kind of information is very sensitive for most people..."

He pressed the damp cloth against the boy's nose. He struggled and cried for a moment, and then collapsed. At that moment, Lance was sure what to do. He hesitated though... he had grown rather fond of the boy as he spent more time with him. Lance pushed the memories aside. He knew that the fate of the government was more important than the fate of any individual. He steadily took the pocketknife and gingerly opened the boy's mouth...

When Red awoke, his face was covered in blood. He tried to call Lance's name, but his mouth felt numb. He tried to speak, but could not form any words. It was as though something was missing. He got up and stared at his reflection in the glass coffee table, there was nothing in his mouth but a short stump. He knew what had happened. He looked to the sky and screamed, then cried pitifully over the loss of his tongue.


	3. Never Forget (Part 1)

The old man stared at the gravestone before him. The writing was too faded for him to read, but he was able to recognize it, even after all these years. Out of habit, he placed the lit incense sticks on the grave, and began to pray. He was the only one who knew why they still upheld this practice... the Japanese people have done this for generations.

Yes. He was the only one. He was the last living survivor of The Great Fault. He remembered where he worked. He remembered the Tokai Nuclear plant. He had a fairly respectable position there. He had friends, a wife, and child. They all died. It was their graves he was looking at now. They didn't even need to be cremated. The bodies were so charred and ruined that they would turn to ash within a day or two anyway. He didn't even have the time to mourn them, as his own survival became paramount.

He had to forage on his own, which was hard initially. He came from a rich family, and was used to the comforts that technology had given him. He had to make his own food, live in the wild for so long, and he remembered wandering with the nomads. He remembered all those harsh journeys throughout the place he once called Japan. Nobody knows that name now, however. He can talk to nobody about the flickering lights of Tokyo, Akihabara district, the shiny new monitors advertising the latest products, or the feeling of riding on a brand new turbo motorbike.

He sighed after reminiscing his life gone by, and then proceeded to slowly leave the tower. At the bottom floors, graves were no longer filled with corpses of people... but those creatures. Those horrific creatures that changed his world permanently. Some of them appeared cute, adorable, and even familiar as they resembled the old world counterparts somewhat. However... they were a monstrosity. The public was awestruck by these things, fascinated beyond degree. And they knew it. The Elite Four knew it all too well... and so they proceed to lie to them, delude them, and purge the world until people were convinced that they began and ended their lives with these things.

Once he left the tower, he took a good look at his surroundings. He remembered finally returning to his hometown after wandering his country, and he remembered how there wasn't even any rubble. Since they lived closest to the Tokai Plant, they were the hardest hit. The only existing landmark was a tower used as a cemetery. How that one landmark managed to stand, he did not know. They used whatever rubble they could to build a small town, the settlement thrived, and with the introduction of pokemon the town began to flourish even more. However he realized... were the people of this city ever happy?

No, they weren't. In fact, as far as development was concerned, the city had been stagnate for quite some time, and even during prosperous periods, it was clear that something was very, very wrong with this place. Everyone in this town acted abnormal, and this phenomenon was only present here.

The people cower in fear, afraid to even go outside of their own homes. Babies cry and scream at seemingly the slightest provocation. Growthlithes and arcanines are at their loudest in this town. They bark and scream during the day, and howl at night. And thus, many people lose their sleep, not that they had any to begin with, as they would spend their nights wide awake in bed, shivering and town became a popular place for shamans. Though humanity was supposedly rid of those superstitious notions in the past, it seemed that The Great Fault pushed humanity back by several centuries, thus bringing old beliefs like these back to life.

It was obvious. There was no joy, no laughter, no peace, and most certainly no rest for the soul in The Noble Purple Town.

Suddenly, he found his ruminating interrupted by yet another hyperactive arcanine. Its eyes were wide and bloodshot, its tail was wagging, and it was barking and wailing pitifully. The old man realized the source of the pokemon's distress: the tower.

The creature scratched at the door desperately with its claws. It let out a breath of flame, but the flame was so abysmally small that the door would not burn or even cave in. It began to wail once more, and stood near the door shaking and trembling.

In the past, people ignored these signs. They were so preoccupied with their own phobias that they wouldn't even care to discover the source. However, the old man decided that it was high time he solved the mystery of why the people of Lavender Town were in a perpetual state of fear.

He then remembered... Arcanines and growthlithes shared qualities with a familiar animal of the old world: dogs. In fact, it was safe to say that they came from domesticated dogs. Dogs were known detectors of evil... particularly the paranormal. It was even said in many cultures that dogs had the power to see ghosts.

Did ghosts really exist? He assumed that science had disproved the existence of the paranormal back in the 24th century. However, the distress of this pokemon was a clear indicator that maybe their science was not as reliable as it seemed.

The man opened the door, and once he did, the creature barked loudly and ran into the tower. The man followed the creature and proceeded to make his way to the first floor, inspecting every gravestone he could find. The arcanine followed suit, using its powerful sense of smell to find anything suspicious. Then they inspected the second floor, and there was nothing of note. Then the third... which contained the humans which could be buried. Then they inspected the fourth, fifth, sixth, and finally seventh floors. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Perhaps the pokemon had been drugged or was just naturally hysterical...

Then came loud wail, this time more filled with fear than ever before from the creature. It appeared to be barking at a wall at the end of the room. The pokemon was able to use its flame breath to the fullest capacity this time, and the wall was burned down to reveal a long stairway. A gust of wind came from the top room, and the pokemon was so frightened that it urinated on the spot.

"Get a hold of yourself." the old man snapped at the creature, "You're pretty wimpy for a monster used in dogfights..."

The arcanine whimpered, but then decided to accompany the man. For some reason, it was starting to develop a bond with him. It was mainly a stray pokemon that interacted with the townspeople, though it had no trainer to call its own. However, it seemed to the arcanine that this old man was a trainer that he could truly identify with. Perhaps it was because this human was the only one willing to acknowledge its cries for help as something meaningful.

They walked through a long corridor... and the old man realized he was seeing remnants of the old world... specifically his hometown. Photos of women in kimonos, old newspaper articles which were too charred up to read, and... to his shock, and horror, something that made the bile rise to his throat.

Body parts. Dozens and dozens of body parts. Arms, legs, torsos of humans. Not just humans either... but old world species. Cats, dogs, birds... some of the carnage looked like it came from the cataclysm. However some of the kill was more fresh than it seemed.

The arcanine growled and ran throughout the bloody scene. It appeared to be leading the old man to the source of the corpses. He walked throughout, and came across an article in a frame, slightly more recognizable than the others.

"Scientists discover... Particle technology... use of photons to create... unnatural phenomenon once known as...Tokai National Cem...highly reactive..."

He did not understand fully what the article meant, nor what it was doing in a cemetery. However, at the moment, that mattered not. The arcanine had found the source of the carnage. There was another long door in a corner, and an ominous aura surrounding it. The old man shivered for a moment, and then sighed, ready to open the door.

"Maybe pokemon aren't such a nuisance after all..." he didn't know why he found himself talking to the arcanine, "If we get out of this... maybe I'll adopt you."

The arcanine stared at the old man in astonishment, as until now, no human had been kind to it. It remembered its previous trainer. When it would cry, he would beat it. When it would point at the distress that the tower was causing it, it would whip it with his cane. He was so cruel and harsh, and for what? It was all because he wanted a strong pokemon. In the end, when his training appeared to be in vain, he abandoned it and left it to die. It cringed as it remembered those harsh times of living on stray plants and having to fend for itself until it reached this settlement. Even then, he lived off tossed aside table scraps, and the humans here did not exactly welcome it with open arms.

It made a resolve: to help the old man in his quest, at all costs. Now it was not scared, but determined, ready to teach whatever was behind that door a lesson.

"Well... you need a name. What should I call you...?" he wondered as he tried to pick the lock. He couldn't seem to think of a name at the moment. Then he remembered an old song from long ago, from the old world that is, about a group of people known for ghost-hunting...

"How about Buster? Has a nice ring to it I guess..."

Buster nodded, pleased with his new name. He was happy for the time being. Over the course of a day he had gotten himself a name, a trainer, and a new home. However the time for sitting idle was over, as his trainer managed to pick the lock, and the door was open.

They cautiously walked into the room, and several gravestones were at the corners. There were stone tablets strewn about, and a mysterious machine in the centre. There appeared to be a some sort or ray gun pointing at a table, and there was an arm dangling off its edge. There were computers abound, beeping sporadically and the sound of static was present throughout the room.

The old man took another step, and found he stepped on something, a cracking sound followed. He looked down to find an amputated leg near his foot. He shuddered and backed away. Once he looked at the floor, he realized there were several corpses on the floor. More corpses of humans, old world animals, and old world-pokemon hybrids of some sort... perhaps they were predecessors of pokemon.

"Visitors...?"

The voice made Buster jump, it appeared to be coming from the end of the room. He tried to detect the source, but he could only smell death. Was there anything alive in this room?

"It's been... so long..."

"Who are you? Are you a ghost?" It was a stupid question to ask, however the old man could think of nothing else at the moment.

"How I wish..."

From behind a tombstone there was a hand waving, and then the old man saw something. He couldn't call it a human being, it seemed far too mutated. It was practically emaciated, and its eyes were hollow. There were very few teeth in its mouth, it appeared to be wearing nothing but a long sheet. An unfortunate individual who became mutated in The Great Fault, perhaps?

"I worked here... at the Tokai Cemetary... I was locked in here... they all left... explosion... but somehow... I survived."

The old man's hypothesis appeared to be correct. However this individual did not seem trustworthy. His appearance reminded the old man of Gollum, a character from a series of books he read as a child. And he knew being similar to Gollum was anything but a good sign.

"I got out... for a while... then... strange new animals... appeared here..."

The Gollum-like human walked towards them slowly, on all fours. It barred its teeth at them, then spit on the ground.

"Old experiments... conducted here back then... so I decided... to replicate... worked here... so long... and now... success..."

Experiments... the old man remembered the article he had found. Something about particle technology and photons to create old phenomenon... no. It couldn't be. It seemed too absurd for him to believe.

"Let me show you how it works..."

It crawled towards the machine, then a flash of light and a buzzing sound, and there was a incorporeal figure of a woman standing before him. She wore a lab coat very similar to the one he had. She was crying tears of blood, and there were two holes where her eyes should have been.

Particle technology...

Use of photons...

To create an old phenomenon known as...

Ghosts...

Ghosts...

Ghosts...!

Buster attempted to use its flame breath on the ghostly woman, but it appeared to have no effect whatsoever. The woman then floated closer to the duo.

"My eyes... where are my eyes... the blast... it took my eyes..."

The old man couldn't even scream. He stood frozen and in fear.

"They're just holograms though... I would not call them ghosts per se..."

He proceeded to fire the ray gun at various targets, and sure enough, ghostly versions of humans appeared before both of them. Some had no eyes, some had no ears, some were too mutated to look like human beings. They came closer and closer to the old man and his pokemon, who were more horrified than ever.

"Great Fault... Great Fault..."

"Activate the machine..."

"Remember the old..."

"Remember our sorrow and grief..."

"Never forget... Never forget..."

"They are sad and angry... they were all forgotten after so many years. Now they haunt the people of this town as punishment... They come in their dreams... make them see things they should not..."

So this was why Lavender Town was always in fear. Those who had forgotten the Great Fault, everyone but him, were haunted by these incorporeal figures in their dreams.

"Oh... but did you think my ghosts were just humans...? I made something new here... new ghosts... new pokemon..."

From the shadows came blurs of grey with yellow beady eyes, the very sight of them made Buster stand in place. Too fearful to move.

Then from the shadows came clouds of purple with demonic faces, they were varied in size, and made cackling noises as they flew about.

"I call them Ghastly... and the bigger one... Haunter... Do you want to know where they came from? Dead clefairy... hundreds of them. That's why they are so rare now."

Buster tried to protect his trainer from these ghostly pokemon as best as he could. He used flamethrower on any ghastly or haunter he could find. Though they were burned, they were not completely destroyed. Many of them left the room, ready to make themselves known to the outside world.

"Why...?" The old man said tremulously, "...Why?"

"Nothing left... but to create the dead... nothing left but the dead... You see, I've been lonely... so very lonely... and now... you're finally here..."

The ghostly figures turned on both of them. It was obvious what was going to happen next. So the old man and Buster made their way for the door, however it would not budge.

"Do not... leave... stay with... Master..."

"Yes... my ghosts want you here... to stay... now won't you join me?"

The ghosts converged on the man and his pokemon. Buster barked loudly, then tried to attack these things, but there was nothing he could do.

"You are so loyal... you pitiful creature..."

One of the ghosts managed to throw Buster out of the way, so the poor beast could do nothing but watch his Trainer's demise.

"OH GOD! OH GOD! OH HELP! NO! SOMEBODY!"

Nobody could hear his screams as the ghosts proceeded to tear him apart limb from limb. Buster could hear the tearing of flesh and the smell of blood overpowered his nostrils. He could see body parts and guts flying about, if he was human, he would scream in fear and cry tears of grief. However as a pokemon he could do nothing but howl.

"Buster... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Sorry..." those were his last words.

He hoped he could at least mourn near his trainer's corpse... but there was nothing left. They had devoured every last bone. Buster knew he would be next unless he could get revenge for the first human who acknowledged him.

"Do you want to join your master...?"

In response to the gollum's question, Buster used flamethrower on the abomination. Its flesh was burning very quickly. The gollum screamed in terror and pain as Buster tore into whatever flesh it had, making sure to give it a painful death. Then he set fire to everything in the room, completely destroying everything to make sure no more ghosts could be created again.

Though he had avenged his trainer's death, the ghosts still survived. Then they left the area and made their haunt in the rest of the floors of the Lavender Town Tower, all the while saying the same thing, monotonously and mechanically.

"Never forget..."

"Never forget..."

"Never forget..."

Buster could never forget... he could never forget that the first and last trainer who was kind to him died a painful and gruesome death. Though their time together was short, he would never forget it. He would never forget his name... he would never forget the broken promise of a home. He would never forget that these ghosts had deprived him of what he wanted, and he could never kill them.

The people of Lavender Town were forced to come outside their homes for the first time in years as they saw a stray arcanine howling pitifully near the pokemon tower. However, this time was different, as the pokemon's face was covered in blood and the ominous aura that surrounded the town appeared to be stronger than ever.

The ghosts did not just haunt the people's dreams... they haunted the tower as well. Sometimes, they even came outside and scared the people with their presence. The Ghastly and Haunter would create hallucinations in the people's minds, adding to their fear and sorrow.

Then Team Rocket raided the town and proceeded to slaughter pokemon as it saw fit. Among the dead was a female from a nameless dinosaur-like species. Her only surviving young wore its mother's skull on its forehead from then on. And thus, every pokemon within this species adapted the practice. The species was then given a name, the young was known as Cubone, and the adult form was Marowak.

The abundance of Marowak and Cubone, the horrifying visions of Ghastly and Haunter, the sadness and grief of the ghosts of people and pokemon. It was these things that reminded Lavender Town of the painful fact that it would be cursed all time.


	4. Never Forget (Epilogue)

Ethan was weary. He found himself leaning against a tree with his typhlosion by his side, unable to carry on further. How he wished he was back in Johto. He knew his native land like the back of his own hand, however this place was completely alien to him. He had taken two days to navigate through the Rock Tunnel, and the painfully rugged terrain and winding paths had sucked pretty much all the energy out of the poor boy.

He began to go over his original plan in his head. He had to make his way to Fuchsia City to get his next Kanto gym badge. He knew Lavender Town would be his next stop, so he had to rest there for a day before setting out again. Though Lavender Town was but half a mile away, he was so tired that it would seem like it would take an eternity to get there.

Suddenly, Ethan heard a rustling sound, and he saw a familiar face: the girl who left New Bark Town at the exact same time that he did. It was a strange coincidence that they were meeting here, in Kanto, at the same spot.

"...Lyra?"

"What's wrong? You seem dead. Did the Rock Tunnel get to you?"

It seemed strange to Ethan that Lyra managed to get through the same place with twice as much energy as he had at the moment. He always thought of himself as stronger than her, however he remembered that there were moments where she taught him not to underestimate her capabilities.

"How you managed to get through that... horrible place is beyond me." he was panting, speaking took a great deal of effort for him.

"You're such a wimp..." she murmured as she let her feraligatr out of its pokeball. It stood confused for a moment, as there was no battle and therefore no reason why it should be summoned.

"Carry this weakling to Lavender Town, on the double."

Ethan let out a cry as the feraligatr picked him up like a sack of flour. He found himself hanging on the pokemon's shoulder. It was embarrassing to him. He knew he would look like a laughingstock to trainers nearby.

"What do you say to someone who just helped you?" Lyra asked as they walked on the dirt path, taking notice of her friend's displeasure.

"...Thank you, for making me look like an idiot."

"Idiot."

"Bitch."

"Jeez... talk about ungrateful... Feraligatr, put him down."

The pokemon was about to throw Ethan off his back when he realized his folly.

"Okay! Okay! Thanks for helping me! Now let's keep going!"

"That's what I wanted to hear from you."

After about half an hour of walking, they were greeted by a quaint settlement. Lavender Town seemed like a quiet, suburban area with nature abound and relatively happy people. However, Ethan and Lyra could not help but notice that most of its inhabitants appeared older than they really were, and though they seemed normal, there was some hidden depth of sorrow that they were sensing.

Feraligatr eventually allowed Ethan to walk on his own. He steadily looked for a pokemon centre, luckily, there was one fairly close by. He allowed his pokemon to recuperate as well as took the waiting time as an opportunity to take a short nap. He felt slightly more energetic and decided to spend some time exploring the town.

He decided to visit The House of Memories, where the graves of pokemon in the area were supposedly kept. Several people were praying for their dearly departed, however there was something a little unnerving about the graves. It was clear that they had been moved from somewhere else.

"It's quite a shame that the Pokemon Tower was converted..." he heard an old woman muse.

"What to do? The spirits are gone, the curse has been lifted thanks to Red. I'd say good riddance to bad rubbish." an elderly gentleman replied.

"Where is the Tower?" Ethan asked the woman.

She turned around and inspected the boy for a moment, he did not appear to be from the area.

"...a foreigner, eh? We don't get many people from Johto these days. Well, no wonder you don't know. The Tower's north of here. You'll find that it's a Radio Tower now."

"...How did you know I was not from here?"

"You carry a pokegear."

Ethan looked at the telephone-like device hanging from his shoulder. It was a painfully obvious sign of where he came from, as it was invented there. He sighed, thanked the old woman, and made his way to the tower. Next to it was a statue of a howling arcanine, what did it mean? He couldn't help but stare at it for some strange reason. He noticed writing on a stone tablet, supposedly to explain the meaning of the statue.

"This Arcanine was the famous tower guardian. After the infamous curse began to take hold, this pokemon guarded the tower for several years, refusing to leave the area. According to some accounts, its trainer died in the tower, and therefore never left out of grief."

Ethan was moved by this story of undying loyalty, but he knew he couldn't stand there for long, he had to take a look at the tower.

It wasn't much different from the Radio Tower back in Goldenrod City. However it was much smaller, the radio clearly wasn't popular here. The stairway leading to the higher floors was blocked with a sign: "Due to the Rocket takeover in Johto, access to the upper floors will be restricted, thank you for your cooperation." However, Ethan's curiosity was too much for him, and, when nobody was looking, he pushed the sign away and steadily climbed the stairs.

There was nothing there. The upper floor was completely empty, even the gravestones were gone. All that was there were a couple of bones, whether they were of humans or pokemon, he could not tell, and a message on the wall, written in blood. Next to it was a picture of a mushroom shaped cloud.

"Never forget"

The words seemed to speak to him. For some reason, he could feel the atmosphere grow thick. His heartbeat began to accelerate and his knees were shaking. He could hear voices ominously chanting in his head like a refrain.

"Never forget..."

"Never forget..."

"Never forget..."

He somehow lost consciousness for a moment, and what he couldn't believe what he saw next. He saw explosions and fumes of toxic gas. He saw people running here and there, covered in blood. He saw buildings crashing down and forests being destroyed. He saw strange creatures being killed. Then he saw a cloth trampled and burning in the rubble, upon closer inspection, it was a white flag with a red circle in the center.

What did all this mean? What were these visions? Was this the destruction of another world? Was this a mass hallucination? Then he saw incorporeal figures. They appeared to be mangled human beings with missing limbs and dull eyes. They were coming for him... he knew he would be next. He tried to scream, but he couldn't. It was like being trapped in a perpetual nightmare...

"Ethan, what the hell are you doing up there? Don't you know that access is restricted! Now get down before you get in some serious trouble!"

Lyra's voice seemed to save his life at the moment. The visions ceased, and he felt himself gaining control of his consciousness again. As he made his way to the ground floor, however, those words stayed in his mind, as though they were of nominal importance to him. He could still hear the refrain, and the visions would have left a very deep scar in his mind.

"Never forget..."

"Never forget..."


End file.
